Andrew Surman believes Saints need to start getting "gritty results" if they are to mount a successful promotion campaign this season.

The England under-21 international midfielder has seen his side throw away two leads in a matter of days, the second of which at home to Colchester two days ago should have yielded three points instead of one.

Saints are expecting tomorrow's visitors Barnsley to get men behind the ball, defend deep and make themselves hard to break down - just as Colchester, another non-glamourous name, did on Wednesday.

But Surman knows that will be a recurring theme at St Mary's this season ... and if Saints are to win promotion to the Premiership, they need to find a way to combat it.

He said: "Sometimes it's a bit of a grind - that's not the pretty side of football, but sometimes you have to do that.

"If you're going to go up in this league, that's the sort of thing you need to do because you need to get gritty results.

"Teams are going to come and defend and it's not pretty to watch, it can get scruffy sometimes.

"But that's something we have to deal with.

"We're definitely capable of winning games like that but it's never as easy as people say.

"You look at Colchester and say we should have won that game, but it's never easy when they come and make it difficult for you".

Full story: see today's Daily Echo.